Food is essential to our daily every day and like every other area of society, it was greatly affected by the pandemic. When the hospitality industry closed many people were forced to familiarise themselves with their own kitchens, myths arose about quick antidotes to the virus from the consumption of bleach to plant-based diets and certain cohorts of COVID-19 cases lost their sense of taste and smell, impacting their relationships with food. How has the pandemic changed we way we produce and consume food?

Rachel Herz, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and world-leading expert on the psychological science of smell. She has been conducting research on the senses, emotion, perception, motivated behavior, and cognition since 1990. Dr. Herz is a TEDx speaker, has published over 95 original research papers, received numerous awards and grants, co-authored scholarly handbooks, and is an adjunct professor in the Medical School of Brown University and part-time faculty in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Boston College.  She is also a professional consultant to various industries regarding scent, taste, food, and flavor, and is frequently called upon as an expert witness in legal cases involving olfaction.

Dr. Herz is the author of several academic and popular science books including The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell, which was selected as a finalist for the “2009 AAAS Prize for Excellence in Science Books,” and That’s Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion, which analyses the emotion of disgust from culture to neuroscience, and was listed as a New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice”.  Her latest book Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food explores how our senses, brain, and psychology govern our perception of food, and the experiences and consequences of eating and was listed among the Best Food Books of 2018 by The Smithsonian and The New Yorker.

Joshna Maharaj is a chef and activist who is interested in the state of our food system, and how everybody eats, from day to day, when they're not at restaurants. She hopes to inspire people to make better friends with food because she thinks that a richer, happier, more nourished life is possible with a deeper connection to food and the people who move it from field to kitchen to table.

Joshna Maharaj works with communities, organisations, and institutions to build value-based food services that prioritise good food, hospitality, and sustainability. She believes chefs can help people and communities transform with stronger connections to their food. Joshna uses social gastronomy to rebuild food systems, to increase people's access to good food, and to help everyone have more fun in the kitchen.

Joshna’s book Take Back the Tray is a movement to reconnect food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in public institutions around the globe. And it's a story about a chef who took on the institution and tried to make change.

Tara Stewart is a DJ, podcast host, slow fashion lover, and presenter of the New Music Show on RTE 2FM. When she’s not gracing the national airwaves, Tara can be found DJing at high-profile gigs including top festivals and live events. 2020 saw her become the September cover star of Women’s magazine, Stellar Mag for a sustainable fashion special.

Never one to shy away from speaking her mind, Tara also hosts a slow fashion and sustainable theme podcast called Dirty Laundry, with Season 1 featuring guests like French Designer Roland Mouret and Irish Chef and Author Rozanna Purcell.